More particularly, the invention relates to a noninvasive method for focusing acoustic waves in a dissipative heterogeneous medium comprising a substantially homogeneous medium (for example the brain) surrounded at least partially by a dissipative aberrating layer (for example the skull) which generates aberrations in the propagation of the acoustic waves, the acoustic waves being emitted from outside the aberrating layer and focused in the substantially homogeneous medium.
The methods of this type which are commonly used do not make it possible to obtain good focusing of the acoustic waves inside the medium, and, when these methods are used in imaging applications, they therefore do not make it possible to obtain a good resolution and a good image contrast when the propagation aberrations are significant, for example when echography of the brain is being carried out from outside the skull.
It is, in particular, an object of the present invention to overcome this drawback.